The present invention relates generally to agricultural implements and, more particularly, to a scalable marker assembly for use with an agricultural implement.
Agricultural seeders, which are commonly used to deposit seed, fertilizer, and granular chemicals onto a farm field, generally consist of a towable frame that supports one or more rows of seed units. Seed or other granular product is typically metered to the seed units which in turn deposit the product onto the farm field. The seeder will often include furrowing opening devices, such as coulters, knives, shanks, and the like that cut a furrow into the farm field immediately ahead of the seed units so that the granular product is deposited into a furrow rather than simply atop the farm field. A trailing packer will then pack the furrow to improve germination and/or fertilization.
Agricultural seeders are also commonly outfitted with a pair of marker assemblies. Each marker assembly will generally include a marker frame which carries a marking disc. A seeder will typically have a marker frame extending laterally on opposite sides of the seeder, and the marker frames can be independently raised and lowered by a respective lift assembly, such as a hydraulic cylinder. The marking disc is designed to cut a furrow into the farm field which serves as a marker as to the position of the seeder as the field was passed. Thus, during a subsequent pass of the farm field, the operator can position the seeder so that the next pass is properly aligned with the previous seeding pass to prevent overseeding of a previously seeded area or to prevent undesirable gaps in the seeded rows. Improper uniformity in spacing of the rows as well as distribution of the seed can negatively impact crop yields.
Most marker assemblies have a collapsible or foldable frame that can be retracted from an extended working position to a folded position for transport and/or storage. Typically, the frame will consist of either one linkage or two linkages pivotably connected to one another. The width of the marker frame (distance the marker frame extends away from the implement to which it is coupled) is set by the collective length of the one or more linkages. Fixing the width of the marker assembly prevents any flexibility in letting a farmer define the width of the marking furrow made by the marker assembly. Moreover, since not all planters make a pass across a field with the same planting width, manufactures must design and make marker assemblies that are tailored for a specific planter width. For a product line consisting of planters of different widths, the need for individualized marker assemblies can introduce additional manufacturing, materials, tooling, and inventory costs. In addition, a number of wider marker assemblies for planters with relatively wide planting widths have been developed but they cannot be compactly folded for transport and storage.
Therefore, there is a need for a scalable marker assembly capable of marking a marking furrow at user-selectable widths that can be folded into a compact configuration when desired for transport and/or storage.